On Her Own
by dejay
Summary: Isabella Swan has never gotten help from anyone. Years after running away from home she does her best to survive. Just as she always has. But can the Cullens, a family full of celebraties, help her stop surviving and start living? Or will Edward end her?
1. Me and The Pixie in the Park

**Chapter One**

**Me and The Pixie In The Park**

Sleep at the park, wake up, go to work, go back to the park and sleep again. That was it for a regular day in my life. I didn't do much except what I can to survive. I'd never deviated from that daily schedule. Not since I ran away from home.

Then I met Alice.

"Hey, wake up."

That was the first thing I heard awaking from my slumber. The voice was extremely loud and high pitched so it was hard not to notice it. Plus, I had been shoved off of the bench and onto the hard cement pretty roughly. Not the most enjoyable way to start off the day.

"Oops, my bad." The voice again.

I looked up to find a little girl with spiky black hair staring at me curiously.

"Hi," I said.

I'd always liked children and this girl was just so cute I couldn't help smiling. There was just one thing somewhat strange about her. I never saw kids wearing high heels or make up at that young an age. What kind of parents did she have that they would let her wear those things? But I had to admit she did look pretty good in her red blouse and blue jeans.

Getting up and rubbing my sore butt, I rearranged my messenger bag strap so that it crossed my chest. When you have to carry it around with you all day you tend to look for ways to get more comfortable.

"Hi, I'm Alice. Why were you sleeping on a park bench?" the little girl said pointing to the bench with her over sized hand bag.

"I'm Isabella and I was tired so I thought why not?" I answered, taking a look at the Seattle skyline above the trees. It was pretty early and there wasn't anyone around. Again, what kind of parents leave their children alone like this? What if some sicko had found this little girl?

"Are you lost?" I asked her. It probably wasn't very smart to try and help this girl get back home. That could take a while and judging by the position of the sun, I only had a few hours till I had to go to work at the cafe. Maria wasn't going to be happy.

She shook her head no. "Are you lost?"

I chuckled at that. "No. Just homeless." She'd probably forget about this meeting in an hour so what could it hurt to tell her about my life? I sat down on the bench to rest in preparation for the long day ahead of me. Then, weirdly, Alice started pacing. She looked conflicted.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, just thinking."

She continued her pacing, muttering things like, _Dad would let me if... But Edward... Esme would like her. But..._

"Alrighty then." I dug around in my bag for my breakfast then realized I'd eaten my last granola bar last night. Guess I'll have to starve for the rest of the week. My stomach protested but what could I do? I was broke.

I'd been too preoccupied by my stomach's growls to notice that Alice had stopped pacing and had instead sat next to me on the bench.

"Wanna play twenty questions?" she asked.

I thought on that for a moment. I had time to spare and it might as well be spent in company rather than with just a rumbling stomach.

"Sure."

"Me first. What's your favorite color?"

"It changes but I think today is... red." I guessed she was bored. Kids are prone to that.

"What's your favorite pick me up food?"

"Peanut butter dipped Oreos." Even though I haven't had any in years and people thought it was gross.

"Ooh, I like those too! Okay, do you like your parents?"

I hesitated at this one and suddenly I wanted to hit something or cry.

"No, I don't." I answered, managing to stay calm.

"Why not?" she honestly seemed interested. She probably had very caring parents and couldn't comprehend anyone being horrible to their children.

"Lots of reasons I guess. They were never really nice to me." I felt a stab of pain at the thought of my childhood. Always being called 'That kid,' and never being able to call them mom and dad. It was always Charlie and Renee. Renee always screaming at me, Charlie never saying anything to me unless it was about his needs. Those daily slaps in the face. They were memories I didn't like to dwell on too much, if at all.

To change the subject I asked her about her parents.

"They're pretty great." she said, smiling brilliantly. "They're my adoptive parents but I like them."

"What happened to your real parents?"

"They died when I was really young. Car crash. I hardly remember anything about them except that my mom used to smell like Jasmin perfume."

"I wish I'd been adopted." I commented. "Guess I'm not as lucky."

"Sure you're lucky. You met me didn't you?"

"Yeah, you're not so bad."

"Thanks. So what are you going to do today?"

"Go to work."

"Where do you work?"

And that was how it was for a while. She asked me questions and I answered. I guess it was kinda like therapy, only it didn't cost me anything. God knows I can't afford a real psychiatrist. But Alice was fun to talk to. Kind of like the little sister I wish I always had.

"You should come home with me!" Alice declared suddenly. Yes, right out of the blue. I've dealt with kids before and they were very impulsive so I tried to let her down gently.

"Won't your parents mind?"

Alice scoffed. "Why would they mind? I pay my rent so I can bring whoever I want home with me."

"They make you pay rent?" Unbelievable. Her parents make her pay rent! That's so mean! She was deluded if she thought that was great parenting.

"Yeah, but it's not that much and my brother Edward does it too, so no big deal."

Of course it was a big deal! She has to pay to live with her parents. And her brother too! Children shouldn't have to pay for that.

"Fine, I'll come with you." I really wanted to give her parents a piece of my mind.

"Great! Let's go. I parked car over there somewhere."

A car. She drives a car. How irresponsible can her mom and dad be? And I thought Renee and Charlie were bad.

"You're very mature for your age." I told her, as we walked out of the park.

She frowned, "How old do you think I am?"

"Eleven?"

"What!" Alice shouted, rounding on me. "I'm not eleven!"

I guessed again. "Twelve?"

"Twenty-one."

My eyes turned into giant dinner plates at that. "You're kidding right?"

"No," she pouted, folding her arms.

"Sorry, I couldn't tell." I blushed, sheepishly, feeling incredibly stupid. All that time I had been talking to her I'd thought she was a little girl. Honestly, she was so small. But if she was twenty-one, what I said about her being very mature for her age was completely wrong. She was very immature for her age.

Alice sighed, seeing my face, "That's okay, I get that a lot actually." She gestured for us to keep walking, nearly hitting me with her purse. "So how old are you?"

"Twenty-one in September."

"Really? That's in like two months!"

"Yeah, but I usually don't do anything." We'd finally arrived at the street and my eyes caught a shiny canary yellow porsche, ogling it.

"Like it?" Alice asked, grinning as she opened the door. "I bought it last year but it still runs pretty well."

"It's very...er, shiny." was all I could say.

"Don't just stand there, get in." she motioned to the passenger seat.

I hesitated. Like I said before, I'd been thinking Alice was a little kid so I'd just been humoring her when she said "Come live with me!" That and I wanted to shout at her parents for making her and her brother pay rent. I didn't think I'd ever actually be living with her. But it was too late to turn back now.

So I did what she said, carefully opening the door so as not to scratch it or something. Never before had I been in a car this expensive. I'd had my monster of a truck a few years back but it had died and I didn't have any money to get a mechanic. Heck, I didn't even have enough money to buy an apple pie off the dollar menu at McDonald's.

"You might want to buckle in," Alice suggested, giggling evilly.

"What do you mea-AHHH!" I screamed as she peeled out with such speed I didn't even have time to think about putting on my seat belt. "Slow down, Alice! Slow down!" But Alice was too far gone to listen to my screeching. We swerved through traffic and I screamed as we nearly hit an ice cream truck. Steeling my self for impact at every turn, I shut my eyes until Alice's voice chimed. "Isabella, we're here."

I slowly opened my eyes, and saw that we had indeed stopped. The city was gone and in its place was beautiful country as far as the eye could see. Oh, and there was a white house, too. A very big house it was with several floors and windows.

"Come on, Isabella," Alice tugged me out of the car, with such surprising strength I fell onto hard cement. Again.

"Sorry." she apologized. Again. "I do that a lot don't I?"

"Mhmm," I said, still awed by the beauty around me.

"Let's go! Let's go!" Alice pushed and we entered the house.

As impossible as it seemed, the inside was better than the outside. With every room Alice showed me, I noticed how well furnished and coordinated everything was. Nothing here was out of place.

Except for me.

"And this is our kitchen." Alice spun around and around gesturing to all of the shiny stuff.. How she didn't get dizzy I'll never know. I tripped just watching her. While I was on the very nice floor, I saw a giant man wearing an apron looking down at me.

"Alice, who iz dis?" he asked in a french accent.

"Oh, this is Isabella. Isabella this is our chef Pierre."

"Bonjour," I said, standing up too quickly and almost falling over again had it not been for Pierre grabbing my hand.

"Be more careful, mon amie," Pierre said, steadying me. "Don't want to 'urt such a beautiful face now would we?"

I blushed at that. No one had ever said that to me. Ever. And I had never expected it. I mean I wasn't the prettiest color of the rainbow. Really, I wasn't even in the rainbow. I was the dull brown-eyed brunette with strangely pale skin always wearing rags. I actually began to wonder if Pierre was blind.

"Pierre, make us a giant celebratory banana split please." Alice smiled, taking a seat at the island in the middle of the kitchen. "Come on, Isabella, sit."

"What ar' you celebrating, Alice?" Pierre asked as I sat next to Alice. He quickly dished out a six scoops of ice cream, covered with caramel, chocolate, sprinkles, nuts, bananas, strawberries, pineapple, whipped cream, and a cherry on top. I had to say a banana split didn't count as a healthy breakfast, but it was better than starving for the rest of the day like I always did. So instead I accepted the silver spoon and dug in with Alice and Pierre.

"Isabella is staying here with us and this is really good Pierre." Alice spoke between mouth fulls.

"Oh really?" Pierre looked towards me. "Iz 'zat true, Isabella?"

"Of course it is!" Alice interrupted before I could even have a say. "Why wouldn't she want to live with us?"

"Alice, I met you like half an hour ago." I stated as I spoon fought Alice for the cherry on top. Needless to say she won.

Alice spit the cherry stem into the trash can. "So?"

"So I could be some psycho killer waiting to kill you in your sleep! Or what if I decided to come here just to steal your stuff? I'm a very poor person you know."

"I know you're not a psycho killer or a stealer. Please, give me some credit." she scoffed.

I turned to chef Pierre. "Does she do this a lot?"

"Do what?"

"Bring home absolute strangers for no reason."

"Oui."

Alice said, "Isabella, you are not a stranger."

"Like I said I met you like half an hour ago and that makes me a stranger."

"Who says?"

"I don't know! Pierre, am I a stranger?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Pierre!"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to knock some sense into her!"

"No, we already tried 'zat years ago. Didn't work. Besides, do you not want to stay here with us?"

I sighed and shook my head. "No."

"But why?" Alice and, surprisingly, Pierre whined.

Again I sighed. "I'd just be a bother. And even though you guys think I'm not a stranger, or a danger to you, that doesn't mean you didn't bring me here to kill me. This could be the remake of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre! You know only in Washington."

We all looked at each other for a moment. Then burst out into a laughing fit.

"Well, who is this?" a voice asked.


	2. The Cullens

Holy cow! I never thought anyone would ever actually be interested in this story. I just thought I'd put it up for the fun of it. But thank you to those who have taken time to read this. I'd also be nice to get a few more reviews ; ). Don't hesitate to criticise me and this story because it would be really helpful if you did. I want to be a writer when I grow up so I need to know if I suck before I make any big career choices.

Oh, and just to be clear, **I don't own Twilight or any of the characters. That belongs to Stephanie Meyer.**

Okay, enough dilly dallying. Let's get this show on the road.

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**Chapter Two**

_**The**_** Cullens**

I wiped the laugh tears from my eyes and saw a beautiful woman standing in the doorway, looking at us. She had a lovely face and warm eyes that matched her dark curly hair. Her eyes landed on the banana split.

"Ice cream before breakfast? Alice? Pierre?" she said, disapprovingly.

"We ar' celebrating." Pierre said nervously, and shoved a massive amount of ice cream in his mouth, leaving him unable to talk.

"Celebrating?"

"Mom this is Isabella, my friend. Isabella, this is my mom." Alice motioned to me and I quickly gave her the evil eye. "Isabella's going to stay with us!"

"Hi." I said, timid.

"Hello. You may call me Esme." she spoke smiling kindly at me. "I thought I had already met all of Alice's friends?"

I smiled sheepishly, "You wouldn't have met me. I just met Alice this morning. At the park."

"Oh."

"And I'm not staying." I said hastily and then heard Alice groan in frustration. For some reason Esme seemed a bit worried. Her 'oh' had come out like an 'oh no' and I didn't like to cause people trouble.

"Why not?" she asked, curious.

So I told her about the whole stranger thing and the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' thing, too. She bit her lip, and covered her mouth with her hand. I blushed. Hey, at least she was trying not to laugh.

Something suddenly struck me.

"What time is it?" I asked them nervously.

"7:33." Pierre said looking at his watch.

I jumped off my chair in a panic. "No no no no no no! No! I'm going to be late for work! What do I do!"

"Isabella," Alice grimaced when she said my name, "I can drive you to work."

She said it like it was the most obvious thing. I guess it was. Obviously.

"Do you mind?" I never did like to accept help from other people. It's strange. You'd think I would be glad about it but I never was. I always did everything for myself ever since I learned to walk. I figured out how to eat and stay clean. I learned how to read and write and always tried my best. Hardly anyone helped me except for my teachers at school, and even then it was their job.

Plus, Alice drove like a maniac. So you can see why I was a little fearful of getting in a car with her.

"Come on! You're going to be late."

I said good-bye to Pierre and Esme as Alice dragged me out of the kitchen and into her porsche. This time I actually managed to buckle in before the horror started. The good and bad thing about Alice's driving is that she went fast. I screamed "Slow down!" over and over the whole way into the city, only stopping to shout directions to Alice. Alice on the other hand laughed and squealed with every near death turn.

I didn't think there was anything more beautiful than the white letters of _Musique Cafe _on the wide front window. From inside, Maria waved hello to me. A sign that Alice's crazy driving actually saved the day.

"This is where you work?" Alice said, following me into the packed cafe where music was playing softly in the background. A small ring of the door's bell announced our presence.

"Yeah, it may not be that big a competition for all of the Starbucks around here but it does alright." I defended. After working here for nearly four years the place starts to grow on you. It had it's certain charm with its blue walls and plush couches in the corner. Small tables were scattered everywhere for couples that often came by here on dates, but there were also a few booths in front of the giant glass window.

"You guys have a stage?"

As I went to get my apron I glanced at the platform a few feet higher than the ground, standing in the opposite corner of the front counter and the display of sweets. There was a mic and a sound system also. "Oh, yeah, sometimes people want to do some karaoke or one of the us waitresses have to sing requests."

Alice arched a brow. "You sing."

"Uh huh." I said, pulling the black apron over my head and tying my hair up. "Hey, Alice, you can go now if you want. You don't have to stay here." She probably had better things to do than wait around all day.

"Actually, I think I'll hang out a bit." she said, eyeing the entire place and sitting on one of the stools at the front counter where I very nearly bumped into Maria as she was fixing up two iced coffees.

"Bella, thank god you're here." a haggard Maria said, handing me a pen and a pad. "Start taking orders."

"Okay," I quickly got started, leaving Alice to fend for herself. She was a big girl, not physically, but she seemed very capable of taking care of herself. The only problem she could possibly have was if she met the owner, Mike Newton.

Ugh, Mike. Just the thought of him made me want to run for the hills.

"Hello, Bella."

Speak of the devil.

"Morning, Mike," I grimaced at the way he'd purred my name. How I wished his parents had gotten a different son to run the cafe. One that wasn't so... Mike-ish.

When I had first come to Seattle in search of a job, I looked everywhere for a place that would hire a seventeen year old drop out. I eventually found this place and Maria, the assistant manager, was nice enough to convince Mike to let me have a job waitressing.

Though I don't think Maria had to try very hard. Mike had taken quite a liking to me ever since I walked in through the door and he'd use any chance he got to flirt with me. He was only a few years older than me and with his boyish face, blond hair, and baby blues a lot of girls he was somewhat of a catch. Not me. The way he always chased me around just kept reminding me of a golden retriever. Besides, I didn't have time to date. I had to keep working just to get by.

"Would you like to go out with me tonight?" Well, that's new. Every day I'd come in and he'd try to butter me up before asking me out. Maybe he was getting desperate.

So I gave Mike the answer I gave him every time he asked me out.

"No." I said, flatly not even trying to be polite about it. You'd think that after four years of this he'd get the message, but he was just so gosh darn persistent.

"How 'bout tomorrow?" he followed me as I was taking a cappuccino to a couple at a table. The guy ogled me and the girl glared. For some reason this happened a lot to me. Why, I didn't know. It was as if the girl thought I was stealing her boyfriend and her boyfriend was hoping I'd steal him away from her. But I ignored it as always.

"So?"

"Huh?" I said, remembering Mike was still there. "What?"

I could tell he was on the verge of rolling his eyes. "Will you go out with me tomorrow?"

Not in this life time. I shook my head and went back to work as he walked away dejectedly. A few minutes later...

"Order something or get out." I heard Mike snap. I looked over at the counter to see him facing an angry Alice.

Uh oh.

"Just a moment," I told the guy I was serving, then rushed over to Alice's side. "What's going on?"

"This guy is being a jerk!" Alice huffed, crossing her arms. Several heads turned at that.

"It's Mike and like I said, you can't sit here for free. You have to buy something, kid." Mike never was good with the customers, or people in general. He hit on girls and picked fights with guys all the time and it was either me or Maria who had to clean up the mess. Literally and figuratively.

"I'm not a kid!" Alice shouted, slightly red in the face. "I'm twenty-one!" Now everyone was looking our way.

"Could have fooled me." Mike scoffed. "Ow!" He cried as Alice stomped hard on his foot.

"That'll teach you to mess with Mary Alice Cullen." she said, and then suddenly there were shocked gasps all around.

"That's _the_ Alice Cullen!"

"OH MY GOSH! HER LINE IS FABULOUS!" I heard one of the more stuck up waitresses, Lauren, squeal.

"I was wondering who's porsche that was!"

"OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH!"

Why everyone had started to freak out was beyond me, but all of the eager people staring at Alice made me a little worried. It was as if they all had struck gold or something. Alice, though, took it all calmly and smiled as she twiddled her fingers as them. However, between that smile, she hissed, "Get me out of here! Quick!" at me.

Not bothering to ask questions I grabbed her arm and led her through the back door. Behind us I could hear people screaming for Alice as they all fought to get out the door at once. Running around the block, Alice and I made it back to the front of the cafe where her porsche was parked. Luckily, the crowd of people had been to preoccupied going out the back to check the front.

"Alice, what the H-E- double chopsticks was that!" I shouted, as the both of us jumped into the car, hearts racing. I saw one of the customers inside point at us and shout, getting the rest of the mob to turn at us. "Start the car! Start the car! START THE CAR!"

"I'M TRYING!" Alice said, looking for her keys in her giant purse, and pulling out various things, like an ipod, an iPhone, sticks of gum, make up, gummy worms, sunglasses, sketchbooks, pencils, pens, her wallet, and finally her car keys. Just as everyone was about to swarm us Alice jammed the keys into the ignition, starting the car's engine, and leaving the mob in our dust.

Once safely driving away I turned on Alice. "Again, what was that?"

"What?" Alice said averting her eyes to the road, something she didn't do a lot when she drove much to my chagrin. But I was too curious to worry about safety or the speed limit.

"Why did everyone treat you like you were some royal person or something?" It was true. I swear all of those people would have killed to just touch Alice. A mauling would have happened if we hadn't gotten away from there so fast.

"Can I tell you later?" Alice asked, " I'm having too much fun."

"You call being chased by a bunch of crazy people fun?"

We turned a corner. "No, being chased by a bunch of crazy people with my best friend is fun." she smiled at me.

Best friend. That sounded nice to me and before I could stop it I was smiling too. Alice didn't fail to point this out to me either and wouldn't drop it unless I admitted to being her best friend.

"Alice," I groaned as she poked me in the arm with one manicured nail.

"Come on, admit it! You're my best friend!" she sang, gleefully. "You know you want to say it."

"No, I don't." I stated firmly.

"Please."

"No."

"Pretty please with a sugar on top?"

I relented. Sort of. "I'm your acquaintance."

"Acquaintance? Who wants to be that?"

"I do. And if I want to be called your friend you may call me that but until then you can call me your acquaintance."

Alice frowned, "What does acquaintance even mean?"

"A person you recently met that is not a stranger. Someone you know but is not quite your friend." I really didn't know really, but who carries a dictionary around with them.

"Fine." We stopped at a red light. "But can I call you Bella, too? Isabella seems like a mouthful."

"Sure." No one but Maria had ever called me that before. She had always felt Isabella was too formal and long for conversation, so she shortened it. "Should I call you the Mary Alice Cullen?" I joked, as the light turned green

Alice laughed, "No, but you can't call me Mary."

"Why not? It's your name right?"

"I just never liked it as much as I liked being called Alice."

"If it makes you feel any better, my middle name is Marie."

"What were our parents thinking?"

And we just laughed and talked. Alice had that sort of affect I guess. You know when she's not grinding peoples toes into the floor. She was a good person, I could tell. Just sensitive about her height though she didn't have to be. It made her cute and pleasant and quite a surprise for people who didn't know her. Who would have known someone so small could be so strong?

I had been too preoccupied talking to Alice that I didn't realize we were back at her house.

"Um, Alice?" I asked as Alice got out of the car. "Why'd you bring me here?"

"Why wouldn't we be here?" Alice gave me a puzzled look. "I want you to meet the rest of my family so come on."

She opened my door but I didn't get out.

"Alice," I said, trying to be very clear with her since she didn't listen to me that much. "I have to go back to work. My boss is probably having a cow right now and I can't afford to lose this job."

Alice groaned, "Why don't you just give them a call? Tell them you had to attend some important business or something?"

"I can't." I said lamely. "I don't know their phone number."

"Why not? What if you need to call in sick? Or you break a leg?"

Looking at her incredulously, I slowly said, "I live in the park Alice. I use a bench for a bed. Do you think I have a phone?" Plus, I would have never called in sick. Even breaking every bone in my body wouldn't stop me from going to work.

"Oh right. Well, just come in anyway. We'll go back to the cafe and explain everything. Of course it was the jerks own fault we had to get out so fast." she grumbled, probably thinking of Mike. She tugged at my arm but I clung to the seat.

"No, take me back now!" I demanded and after a minute of us struggling Alice quit and went inside the house. Sitting there I debated on whether or not to 'borrow' her car. That is until Alice returned, followed by a hulking figure. Next to him Alice looked like a little barbie doll. Actually, everything looked like a barbie play house compared to him. I was so awed by his height that I blurted the first thing that came to my mind.

"You're a big bear." I said to him. At first neither of us said anything. Then he roared loudly making me cringe. At first I thought he was going to attack me but quite the contrary.

He was laughing.

"Wow, Alice. I like her. Tons more fun than that other one." he chuckled and I blushed a light pink, making him laugh even more.

"Okay, just help me get her inside. Oh, Bella this is Emmett, my big lug of a brother. He will be escorting you into the house now."

"Wait, wha- Hey!" I cried, as Emmett lifted me out of the porsche and slung me over his shoulder with ease. "Put me down! Put me down!"

"No use struggling, Bella." Alice advised from behind but I ignored her the same as Emmett ignored my kicks. He finally put me down once we were in their living room.

"Emmett, Alice, you didn't bring her against her own will did you?" A blond man sitting on the couch said. He was exceptionally good looking. Just like everyone else I've met today. It was sort of weird to meet so many beautiful people in four hours. Probably a record.

"Well, just from the car to here." Alice admitted. "Dad this is Bella. Bella, my dad."

He stood up and held out his hand, which I shook. "Pleasure to meet you Bella. You may call me Carlisle if you wish."

"Okay." I said. "Alice likes to move fast doesn't she?"

"Yes, it runs in the family I suppose."

Whether that was a good or bad thing I wasn't sure.

"Where's mom and Edward?" Emmett asked sitting down where Carlisle previously was. "They should meet Bella too."

"I'm right here." Esme said, walking in to stand beside Carlisle. "It's nice to see you again, Isabella."

"Bella." Alice corrected.

"Bella." Esme repeated with a smile.

"Nice to see you too." I said politely, though I was still a bit aggravated at being forced in here.

"Where's Edward? He's the only one who hasn't met Bella yet." Alice asked.

"Alice." Carlisle gave her a stern look and she sighed.

"He can't stay locked up in his room forever. He's gotta get out more. Meet new people. Go to work."

"But he has gotten better at writing music." Emmett said. "You know, only they're very depressing. Not really our style but the fans like anything that's us."

"Fans?" I asked.

"Yeah, fans. Thousands of girls worshipping the ground we walk on." he stated smugly.

"Emmett!" Alice hissed.

"What?"

"Shut up!"

Fans. That reminded me of the people at the cafe.

"Alice." I said. "Why did those people act like they did?"

"What people?" They all said together.

"At the cafe where I work. When everyone heard the name _Mary Alice Cullen_ they started to freak out."

They all looked at me in disbelief. Except for Alice who looked more guilty.

"You don't know?" Emmett said, the first to speak.

"What? You don't have to tell me. I was just curious. Being attacked by a mob is not really a normal thing is it?" I joked.

Emmett was the only one to laugh, but I had a feeling it was for a different reason.

"Is it?" I said again.

"I think you owe Bella an explanation, Alice." Carlisle said.

"Yeah here it is." Alice handed me a magazine she had dug out of her purse. I looked at the glossy cover and my jaw dropped.

There they all were in one big family picture dressed fancily at some party. Underneath them it read...

_America's celebrity family donates one million to charity._

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Well, there you go guys. Hope you liked it. It's not my best I think cause some parts felt a bit blah but it's one of the longest chapters I've ever written. I'm not going to make any promises on when the next chapter will be up but keep reading if you want. Remember people, reviews. The best gift a girl could get. Well, the best gift I could get, anyway.

Ciao!


	3. Edward Finally

**Voila! Edward's here! Enjoy!**

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**Chapter Three**

**Edward (Finally)**

**EPOV**

"Rose, can we go now?" Jasper complained. I merely sighed. When my parents said I should go out more and have fun with my friends I didn't think they meant helping Jasper help Rosalie shop. There were just so many bags to carry. Why didn't she just hire someone to carry this stuff? Or even using her car? I'd asked her once and I wasn't happy with the answer.

"It's more fun this way." she'd said.

Jasper and I groaned. Rose hadn't carried anything at all. She'd just hung her shopping bags on our arms, like we were a pair of human racks. Going from shop to shop was quite a challenge. With our outstretch arms we had to balance ourselves so as not to tip over. This ended in us looking very bizarre. We waddled instead of walked, often hitting other innocent civilians with Rose's purchased items. I'm starting to think that shopping is how Alice gets all of her strength.

"Just one more store." Rose said, handing me another bag.

"She said that last time." Jasper muttered, behind his sisters back as we sat on one of the couches in the shoe store.

"Why didn't you just tell her no when she asked for us to do this? Make up a story or something?" I asked him.

"She blackmailed me into it."

"Me too." We both sighed. "But at least Alice isn't here." Our sisters together would have spelled disaster for us and our arms. Jasper was one of my best friends and at first, when he started dating my sister, it was strange. But you got used to it. Just like he got used to Emmett and and his sister being a couple.

"Where's Emmett?" He really should be the one to do this. He was stronger and

Rose's boyfriend.

"I don't know. Probably hiding from Rose's terrible shopping wrath." Jasper chuckled.

"Okay, I'll take these." Rose said to the salesman handing him a pair of boots. Why she bought so many shoes and clothing for I didn't know. It wasn't like she was ever going to wear them. They'd just go in the 'unworn' pile at her house the same as Alice does. So much money going to waste.

But it wasn't like any of us couldn't afford to spend money like that. Rose's modeling career had skyrocketed after she began modeling Alice's designs. Jasper, Emmett and I made about the same thing they did. With our concerts and upcoming movie we probably made more. But that wasn't the point.

Rosalie was killing us.

"Can we go home now?" Jasper asked his sister again. The Hales really were remarkably alike. Of course, they were twins so that shouldn't have been a surprise.

"Fine." Rose relented and we marched out of the store, down several streets, turned a corner till we were finally putting her stuff away in her red BMW. There wasn't almost enough room for me and Jasper and I wondered if she would actually leave us there, stranded. But she didn't, thankfully. We couldn't take any more of Rose's abuse and we finally headed home for a nice lunch.

"Hey, do you guys know about this new friend of Alice?" Rose asked us as she drove above the speed limit. It was natural to all of us so it wasn't a bother like to other people.

"New friend?" Jasper wondered aloud.

"Yeah, Alice called me a while ago to meet her at some cafe around here but then she told us to go home and meet her there. I think the girl's name was Isabella. Alice said she found her in the park in a card board box or something so I'm a bit worried."

We were all worried. Alice liked to do things spur of the moment and without thinking. the last time she picked up a homeless stranger had ended for us very badly. We only wish we'd seen through Tanya sooner so as to avoid all of the trouble. Especially me.

"Alice wouldn't do that again." Jasper said. "Would she?"

We all looked at each other.

Rose pressed down harder on the gas pedal and we hurried home.

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**BPOV**

"You guys donated one million dollars to charity?" was all I could say at first.

"Yes. We did." Carlisle said, a strained smile on his face. The others looked about the same. It was as though they wanted to kick me out of their house instantly, except they were too polite to do it. Alice, however, seemed to be silently pleading me to do something. The problem was I didn't understand what.

"That was really kind of you. Most people would just waste that money on meaningless things." I said wistfully, smiling at them. Why they looked confused I also didn't know. It was as if that was the last thing they had expected of me. "What charity did you give to?"

I wasn't just trying to lighten the mood. I really wanted to know what charity they had given to. One million was pretty generous.

Esme said, "To refugee children in other countries."

"Really? Wow." That really was amazing. "I wish I had that much money." Heck, even a hundredth of that money would have been more than I gave to the children at the orphanage. All I could give them was a home baked meal. And that was if I used their stove.

Alice smacked herself on the head. That was when I realized the change in the room. Everyone was back from being confused to being, well, angry.

"Yes, well, there were other kids who needed it more than us." Emmett said, sourly to me. "I take it back, Alice. She's just like Tanya."

"Emmett!" Esme scolded.

"Tanya?" I wondered.

"You aren't the first to take advantage of Alice's impulsiveness." said a voice behind me. It belonged to a blond girl flanked by two boys. None of them were happy to see me.

"Rose." Alice warned, as the blond pounced on me. Not literally but Rose looked like she really wanted to. She settled for stabbing me in the shoulder with her nails. Hard.

"You get out of here. Right. Now."

She was so frightening that I almost did go. Her cold beauty was unnerving and her nails were so sharp I could have sworn she broke through my skin. But I wasn't going to take this.

"Why should I?" I asked, trying my best not to be rude, just wanting to know why they all got so, well, mad.

"We don't need any more gold digging girls like you, who use us to get what they want." she spat. "So get out."

Another stab. "Ow! That hurt!" I cried, rubbing my arm. "What was that for!"

"You don't listen do you?" the blond guy next to her said. "We don't want you here."

"Jasper! Rose! Leave her alone!" Alice glared at them, coming to stand beside me. "She's my friend and I want you to treat her nicely."

"Don't you remember what happened last time?" the girl named Rose, glanced at the bronze haired boy who went over to sit on the couch with Emmett. Instantly, recognizing him as the other brother from the magazine cover, I shivered at his cold stare. Edward I presumed.

"Yes, I do!" Alice said continuing to defend me. "And this is different! Jeez, why can't you guys see that?"

"Because you do this every time and it's never different!" Rose exclaimed. "She'll just throw us away like she did! She'll lie and trick you to get what she wants!"

"Rose. Shut. Up."

Everyone was silent but I was quickly unnerved by all of the anger in the room. And it wasn't just them that was angry. I was ready to snap at them. Luckily, Pierre entered at that moment carrying a tray of small sandwiches displayed neatly in a stack.

"Ah, Isabella." Pierre said, smiling at me. "Good to 'ave you back, mon amie. Are you staying for lunch?"

"Lunch?" My eyes widened and I looked at the clock on the wall. "It's noon! Already!"

"Yes, that's usually when lunch is." Emmett rolled his eyes.

"Crap! What am I going to do!" I cried. I'd been too preoccupied today that I completely forgot. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" I smacked my self not caring how odd this looked to the others watching. "God, how could I forget! Today, of all days!"

"Bella, what the heck are you talking about?" Alice said, breaking me out of my rambling.

"The kids at the orphanage! Tammy! The cake! I was supposed to bring cake! But then I met you and I was almost late for work and then that incident happened. Plus she," I pointed at Rose, continuing to rant, "wants to kill me for some reason. Oh god, what do I do?"

"Orphanage?" They all said unanimously.

I nodded, bleakly. Then sighed. "Do any of you know where I can find a good bakery?"

"Oh, I do!" Alice said, suddenly all excited. "I love shopping! Let's go!"

"Alice!" Rose hissed. "She just wants you to spend your money on her or maybe she'll rob you on the way there." Alice was about to retort but I interrupted her with a growl of my own.

"I'm right here, you know, so don't talk like I'm not worth the space." I said to Rose who looked at me scathingly. "And I have my own money and my own job so I have no reason to take any of Alice's. Now out of my way. I have a cake to buy and a party to get to."

To say she was shocked would have been an understatement. Actually, that would have been an understatement for all of them. But I honestly didn't care at the moment. I stormed out of the room, hearing "Wait, in my car for me, Bella!" from Alice and "Au revoir, Isabella!" from Pierre.

Once I was back in Alice's porsche, I steamed like a lobster. What was wrong with those people? Can't they make up their mind on whether they like me or not? I didn't care if they were celebrities or something. No way was I going to be poked in the arm all day. I'd checked my shoulder and there were only a couple of small punctures. Hardly noticeable unless for some reason I managed to get lemon juice on it or something. Knowing me I probably could.

I heard the front door open but it wasn't Alice who came out. Surprisingly, it was Emmett, Rose, Edward, and the other blond guy who's name I couldn't remember but looked a lot like Rose. For a minute there I thought they were going to jump me. That is until Alice followed behind, smiling.

They were coming along Alice told me. They didn't seem to be happy about it and they certainly didn't want to ride in the same car as me. They took a different car instead. It wasn't as flashy as Alice's but it was nice. It wasn't the red one parked next to Alice's but a silver Volvo. It was insulting but I didn't exactly mind. They had been kind of rude to me back there. Once we were on the road I asked Alice about it.

"It's kinda your fault." she said.

_What?_

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**Yes, I know this is shorter than my other chapters but not by much. Plus, I made this one faster and I thought this would be a good place to stop. The next one should be up pretty soon since I already started it. If you don't understand why the Cullens were so ticked off my Bella just keep reading. I'll explain it in the next chapter. Oh, and yeah there are some holes in my story but this is like my first time writing anything and I'm just making it up as I go along. So don't kill me.**

**P.S. I need to come up with a good band name for Emmett, Edward, and Jasper. Any ideas? Please, I really need names. I suck at them.**

**P.S.S. REVIEWS, PEOPLE!**


	4. A Little Fly On Little Alice

**Tell me if I'm crazy for writing the chapter like I did. Don't worry you won't be hurting my feelings. And could you guys also give me some tips on how to get better. That would be a really big help.**

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**Chapter Four**

**A Little Fly on Little Alice**

**EPOV**

Did I feel guilty about what we were doing? Yes, I think everyone did. Sneaking a listening device onto Alice was unethical, but we had no choice. We had to make sure Alice wasn't going to repeat last time. She meant well but she trusted too much for every one's good. None of us wanted another Tanya around and we had taken several precautions if Alice ever decided to bring a new friend.

I drove my car with Rose and Emmett in the back and Jasper in the passenger seat. We followed Alice and Isabella and headed into town.

"Turn it on, Jasper." Rosalie ordered. The 'it' she spoke of was a little black box that had come with the bug we had planted on Alice. After Jasper flipped the switch, we began to hear voices along with the soft purr of a car engine.

_"Er, Alice?" _I heard Isabella's voice.

_"Yeah?" _my sister said.

_"How come your family got so mad at me?"_

_"It's kinda your fault."_

_"But I didn't do anything."_

I heard Alice sigh, _"It's more of what you said. They all sort of jumped the gun when you said you wished you had a million dollars. They took you for one of those people who only hang out with us for our money or fame."_

_"Oh. But I didn't even know you guys were celebrities until you showed me that magazine. I thought you were a kid when I met you, remember?"_

Behind me Emmett guffawed and we shushed him.

_"Nope, I'm a fashion designer. And the blond girl ready to kill you? That's Rosalie and she's a model. One of the best. She's dating Emmett and he's in a band with my other brother Edward. You know, the guy with the brown hair who looks a bit mopey? And the other fine piece of man is my boyfriend Jasper. He's Rose's brother and he's in the band, too. They're really famous. When I first met you I was surprised you didn't freak out like the other people at the cafe."_

"Fine piece of man!" Emmett mimicked Alice, earning him a punch from Jasper.

_"I don't pay attention to the news or those magazines. Even if I did, being nice to you guys just because you're famous seems like a pretty idiotic thing to do. But do they really think I'm that kind of person?" Isabella said disbelievingly. "That's sort of mean to judge me like that."_

_"They're just paranoid and a bit overprotective. The last time I did this was pretty bad."_

_"What do you mean by the last time you did this?"_

I knew what we were all thinking. I didn't like the direction this was going. Tanya was a subject I didn't like to talk about.

_"Well," _Alice dragged the word out. _"you aren't the first person I found on the street."_

_"Yes, I know that." _I could have sworn Isabella was rolling her eyes. _"Pierre told me that this morning when you were trying to convince me to stay with you guys."_

_"Are you going to stay with us?"_

_"Not even if by some miracle they,"_ I saw her gesture behind her in Alice's passenger seat,_ "started to like me."_

Alice groaned,_ "Why not! Don't you like me, Bella?"_

Isabella laughed, _"Of course I do, Alice. You're like the closest thing to a friend I've ever had."_

_"You've never had a friend? You're kidding right?"_

_"I did have one, but he was a guy so I guess was a different type of friend."_

_"Ooh, did you like him?"_

_"Sure, I did. If I didn't he wouldn't have been my friend."_

_"Not like that! I meant if you liked him as more than a friend."_

_"I didn't think so but, I never got a chance to find out for sure."_

_"Why not?"_

_"Oh, just... because." _Isabella finished lamely. _"So, how are the cakes at this bakery you were talking about?"_

"Changing the subject? That's suspicious." Jasper commented.

_"They taste okay but they look even better." _Alice praised. _"My parents got me one for my birthday with all these different colors and it was huge! It was a great deal too because it only cost a thousand dollars."_

_"A thousand."_ Isabella choked. _"Alice, that's too much for a birthday cake."_

_"No it isn't."_

_"Maybe not for you but it is for me."_

_"So? I'll pay for it."_

We leaned in at this. I tried my best to keep driving and listening intensely at the same time.

_"No, Alice."_

_"Why! It's just a thousand!" _Alice whined.

_"ALICE EYES ON THE ROAD!"_

_"They're on the road. Now why won't you let me buy the cake?"_

We heard Isabella sigh heavily._ "Okay listen to me carefully. I. Do. Not. Want. You. To. Buy. The. Cake."_

_"But why don't you want me to buy the cake?"_

Ahead of us I saw Isabella squirm slightly.

_"Because it would only prove that I am one of those gold digging girls Rosalie called me. And I'm not. I hope I'm not."_

Looking in the rear-view mirror I saw Rosalie's face painted with guilt. But I could tell she hadn't given in yet. None of us have yet.

_"Plus, if you bought the cake what would be the point of me giving it to the kids? I'd only be taking credit for what you did."_

_"I wouldn't mind."_ Typical Alice.

_"I would. Besides, what Dora the Explorer cake costs a thousand dollars? The entire party doesn't even cost that much."_

_"Who's birthday is it anyway?"_

_"Tammy's. She's five today and she likes Dora the Explorer. Mainly because of the blue monkey, Boots."_

_"What are you doing, Bella?" _Alice asked. and there was a shuffling sound. Ahead of us, Isabella bent down to reach for something.

"Crap! She's going to kill, Alice!" Emmett said.

_"Getting my money."_ said Isabella.

_"You put your money in your shoe? Ew!"_

_"If I put it in my bag someone could steal it along with the rest of my stuff. So I keep it in my shoe."_

That seemed oddly logical. Personally, I prefer to keep my wallet in my pocket.

_"That looks like a lot of money. How can you fit all of that in there?"_

_"I got big shoes so the money fills the toes."_

_"It doesn't hurt?"_

_"No, not really."_

_"How much do you have?"_

There was a rustle of bills. _"A thousand, I think."_

_"Isn't that enough to rent your own apartment or something? You don't have to sleep on a bench."_

_"I have to."_

_"Why?"_

_"I just do. It doesn't matter anyway. I have more money without having to pay for a place."_

_"You could always stay with us." _Alice suggested, sneakily, as we entered the city.

_"No, I'm fine."_

_"Come one, Bella! It would be so much fun!"_

_"Being killed in my sleep by Rosalie is not my idea of fun. She doesn't know how to use a chainsaw does she?"_

We, including Alice, laughed._ "No. But she does know how to use a hair dryer."_

_"Well, then she'll burn my hair to the roots." _Isabella half joked.

I snatched the box from Jasper and switched it off.

"Hey, turn it back on." Emmett said. "This is fun." That earned him a punch from Rosalie. "Ow."

"Turn it on, Edward." Rose said.

I shook my head. "Bella isn't like Tanya." I flinched at her name. "There's no point in listening anymore."

"How are you so sure?" Rose questioned him.

"I'm not. I'm just guessing."

"You're guessing?"

"Maybe Alice is right. Maybe we are being paranoid. Should we judge every person we meet because of what Tanya did to us?" There was just something in the way Bella spoke that made me relax. Made me believe she was a good person.

"I guess not." Jasper said. Rosalie shot him a dirty look.

"Should we just let everyone mess with us then?" Rosalie countered. "What if she screws us over like Tanya?"

"Then we'll deal with it." I said hardly. "But from what I heard she's different."

Emmett put a hand on Rosalie's shoulder. "Rosie, we can't worry over this too much. Eventually, Alice is going to hate us for it and what then?" For the idiot Emmett was most of the time, he could grow up when needed.

"I don't know." Rosalie said, softly. "I just don't want to go through another Tanya again."

Jasper smiled. "Who knows? Maybe this time Alice could be right. Maybe Isabella will be a good friend to all of us?"

"I still don't trust her."

"Neither do we but we have to at least give her a benefit of a doubt."

"Fine. But you guys have to try too."

"We will." I said, as we turned a corner. Finally, we parked and I saw Isabella hurry into a regular grocery store as she tried to put on one shoe. I chuckled at that.

"Hey, Alice!" Rosalie got out of the car as did Emmett and the rest of us.

Alice walked over to us frowning slightly. "What?"

"I'll make you a deal. If this orphanage Isabella was talking about really does exist then I'll try to be nice to her. But if there is no orphanage or birthday party she has to go."

_I thought she said she was going to give Bella a chance?_ I thought in my head.

"Rose!" Emmett called from behind. She ignored him.

Alice thought on it for a second. Only a second.

"No deal."

"No deal?"

"No deal." Alice repeated.

"Why?"

"Because you're my friend Rose. My best friend. I wouldn't make a deal like that if it was you would I? Because that's not what friends do."

"How can she be your friend in one morning!" Rose exclaimed. "It took me forever to be your friend."

"That was because you kept telling me to bug off! You said my taste in clothes was awful and you called me a munchkin!" Alice said, crossing her arms.

"I'm your friend now aren't I?" Rose huffed.

"Only because I didn't give up on you and I'm not going to give up on Bella just because you guys think she's another Tanya! She is Isabella Swan and she is going to be my newest best friend!"

"Isn't one best friend enough?" a hurt Rosalie said.

"Not when I know there could be another."

They stood there, staring each other down until Rosalie finally said, "Fine, we'll give it a shot."

"Yes!" Alice said doing a little happy dance then grabbing Rosalie by the hand and dragging her into the store. "Come on you have to help us pick out the cake!"

"I want cake!" Emmett said following after like some puppy.

Once alone with Jasper I asked him a question.

"Should we really do this?"

He sighed. "We have to. If only to please Alice."

"Do you honestly believe in Alice's 'psychic abilities'?

Jasper chuckled at that. "No, but I believe in Alice. That is more than enough for me."

I nodded and we followed the others inside. Silently, I prayed Alice was right this time.

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**Okay, I'm ready to give up. I don't even know where this story is even going anymore! This is ridiculous! After finishing writing this chapter and going after the whole story I figured out it doesn't make any sense! God, I am never going to get good at this!**


	5. The Four C's of a Birthday Party

**I didn't realize it until now, but my chapters have gotten shorter. Haven't they?**

**Anyway...**

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**Chapter Five**

**The Four C's of a Birthday Party**

**(AKA Cookies and Cream, Cake, and Chicken)**

I felt a chill run through me as I knocked on the large oak door to the orphanage. It wasn't because of the bucket of cookies and cream ice cream either. Having the others stand behind me as we waited on the stone steps was a bit unnerving. Emmett had offered to carry the cake so I let him. Even though he had turned on me earlier today I could tell he was trying to be polite to me. If only to get a slice of the Dora the Explorer cake.

"I like 'Go Diego go' better." he whined when we were all picking out the cake.

I'll admit it. I laughed. He was like a little kid stuck inside a hulking weight lifters body. He laughed and cracked jokes at everything. Even the others couldn't help a chuckle.

Why did this weird me out you may ask? Oh, no reason other than they hated me like an hour ago. Except for Alice, who told me they were going to _try_ and give me the benefit of a doubt.

The door was finally opened by a stumpy woman with ginger hair. "Hello, Bella." she greeted with a smile.

"Hi, Candy." I said, "Here are some, er... friends of mine. We're here for the party." Silently, I hoped the others hadn't heard me say 'friends'. Especially, Alice. She would never let me forget it.

"Oh, right. Come in, come in." she ushered us through the door after eyeing the others. "The children are all out in the yard eating."

I thanked her and we all went straight down the hall and out the back door to the party. To be honest, it wasn't that well decorated. There wasn't even any balloons or streamers or anything. Just a table covered with a plastic Happy Birthday table cloth. Around the table there sat several kids wearing party hats as they picked at their food.

"Hey, guys." I said, "Who wants cake and ice cream?"

"Bella!" the children cried, scrambling over each other to get to me. They were all dressed casually, most off them younger than seven but some a few years older.

"You came!" Tammy said, her black curls bouncing around her face as she hugged me.

"Of course I did." I smiled, "I promised didn't I?"

"Oh, they're so cute!" Alice squealed getting the children's attention.

"Bella, who's that?" Julie, a girl with light brown hair asked as she hid behind my legs. The other kids were doing about the same thing but there wasn't really that much of me so they kept pushing each other in front of the other. It was quite comical actually.

"This is Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, Edward, and Jasper." I introduced them one by one. "They're here for the birthday party, too."

The children accepted this new information quite openly and turned their attention back to me and the goodies I brought.

"Cake! Cake! Cake! Cake!" they shouted over and over.

"No cake. Not until you guys finish your food." I said, noticing their plates had hardly been touched. "Come on, Bella knows best."

"Bella knows best." They repeated, giving in. The others behind me laughed at this and I blushed slightly as I went to sit at the table. Getting the kids to eat.

"So what looks good?" I asked as I looked at all of the food.

"Chicken!" Emmett cried as he attacked the fried fowl on the table.

"Have some dignity, Emmett." Rosalie scowled, eyeing the food but not taking a plate. The Edward and Jasper did the same thing. Alice, however, went straight for the chips.

"You guys didn't already eat did you?" I asked them.

"No." They said in unison.

"Then sit down and eat. There's room." I scooted over so they could all sit. I passed them each a plate. Rosalie declined.

"I can't." she stated simply.

I raised an eyebrow. "Why not?" I knew that with them being so rich that this wasn't their

"Work."

I turned to Alice who was using her Doritos to scoop up her mashed potatoes. "She's a model, remember?" she answered.

"Oh." I went back to Rosalie. "You can't eat _any_ of this?" I gestured to the food. I didn't think there was anyone who took a look at Candy's cooking and walked away without first storing some of it in their stomach.

"No."

"Reeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaallly?" I waved a drumstick in front of her face, tempting her. Her eyes followed it hungrily but she forced it away.

"It's delicious." Jasper commented a little surprised as he bit into a wing. The rest of the table agreed as they munched away. I continued to hold out the drumstick to Rosalie. She continued to refuse.

"All work and no food, makes Rose a hungry girl." Alice sang, making the kids laugh.

"Just one bite." I said, persistent in my quest to get Rosalie to eat. I didn't care if she hated me even more for this. People have to eat. "Come on."

"One bite." Emmett repeated getting the rest of the table to chant it as they used their eating utensils to pound on the table as they shouted each word.

"One bite! One bite! One bite! One bite! One b-"

"OKAY!" Rosalie relented, snatching the chicken away."One bite."

We held our breaths as she brought the drumstick to her mouth and, apprehensively, took a single minuscule bite and chewed.

"It's okay." she said, even though she sank her teeth into the chicken again.

The entire table erupted into cheers at once, just to be silly. Yes, my kids and I were oddballs, but if we were your regular, average, ordinary, people then things would have been pretty boring. So we cheered and ate happily as we wore our pointy party hats. Even Rosalie was into it. The guys gave piggy back rides and we all played tag. I lost at that one pretty badly since I could never run two feet without falling flat on my face. But it was still fun.

"The kids really seem to like you." Edward said, as I took a small break from the running. His presence had caught me off guard and I nearly spit out the soda I'd been drinking. Nearly, but not quite. He failed to notice this or if he did, he didn't mention it, thankfully. "How long have you known them?"

Clearing my throat a bit, I thought back to that day. How long ago had it been? "Two years." I answered not looking at him directly.

"Sorry, if I'm prying but, aren't you too young to adopt children?" Edward asked.

_Too poor is more like it_, I thought, but kept that to myself and instead said, "I didn't come to adopt them. If I did I would have probably done it already. No, actually I found this place accidentally."

"Really? How?"

I wracked my brain, trying to remember again. "I was just walking." I started, circling the rim of my cup with my pinkie. "I didn't know where I was going really. That day had been pretty bad since my boss threatened to fire me for spilling some coffee so I just went for a walk." I looked out of the corner of my eye to see if he was still listening and he was. So I continued.

"Then it started raining and I was so fed up by then that I didn't care if I got wet anymore. Candy found me sitting on the front steps, drenched and cold. She let me in and let me stay here until the rain stopped. That's how I met them." I waved a hand at the kids playing leap frog with Jasper and Emmett. Alice was busily doing the girl's hair in intricate styles while Rosalie helped.

"So it was a good day?" Edward grinned and I couldn't stop myself from smiling back.

"A very good day." I said, quickly getting up so he wouldn't see the small blush appear on my face. "Time for the cake and ice cream!" I shouted to everyone. Edward got up as well and helped me set out some clean plates for everybody.

"Here's the birthday girl." Emmett said, a giggling Tammy on top of his shoulders. He set her down at the head of the table where the cake was. Her smile brightened at the sight of the cake (We managed to find one with both Dora and Boots.) and the rest of us started singing 'Happy Birthday' to her as I lit the five candles on top of the cake. At the end of the song Tammy took a deep breath, and blew out the candles and we clapped and cheered. Jasper cut the cake and I scooped out the ice cream for everyone. After some prompting, I got Rosalie to have a plate as well.

"Here you go, Tammy." I said, giving her an extra scoop. "Don't tell anyone." I whispered. The others had gone off to play again after they had finished their cake but Tammy was being a very slow eater today.

"Bella?" she asked, taking another bite of her cake. "Is Edward your boyfriend?"

For the second time today I nearly spit out my drink. Luckily, I managed to smack my hand over my mouth and keep the the soda in before any could come spewing out.

I looked at Tammy, laughing just a little. "No. I only met him today."

"And you don't like him yet?"

Tammy had only turned five today so she wouldn't understand relationships for a long while. A few hours seemed like forever to her and that would have seemed like enough time for me to marry a guy. Yes, this is how children's minds worked. And Tammy was a kid after all.

"He's okay." I said.

"Oh, okay." she seemed a little disappointed by my answer.

I waited for her to finish eating and then we joined the others. Before we knew it, it was dark and the children all had to go in. Alice, Edward, Rosalie, Jasper, Emmett and I helped Candy clean up the party mess and we said good-bye to the kids, promising to visit again. I didn't even realize how tired I was until I was back in Alice's porsche.

"You're only driving me back to the park, Alice." I yawned at her from behind. Rosalie occupied the front seat for some reason. I would have thought she would have ridden in the Volvo again.

"Come on, Bella," Alice said, starting the car, "You can stay with us. Right, Rose?"

I turned towards Rosalie. She fidgeted a bit before shrugging, "Sure."

That was a shocker. "Th-thank you but I'll be fine."

"But what if some sicko comes along in the middle of the night and kidnaps you?" Alice worried as we sped down the streets, the others in front of us. I closed my eyes in the attempt to not get car sick.

"Alice, I've slept in that park and nothing has ever happened to me."

Alice eyed me in her rear view mirror. "Nothing?"

Okay, I was fibbing, not very well I might add. But I was too pooped out to do any good quality lying. "Maybe once this guy tried to steal my bag. But that was it."

Alice almost swerved at this news even Rosalie was surprised. "No way am I going to let you sleep there! You are coming home with us!"

Silence followed as I let my head droop down onto my chest. I heard someone talking faintly in the darkness.

_"Is she sleeping?"_ an incredulous voice asked.

_"Yeah. Are we really going to take her home, Alice?"_

_"You bet we are!"_

A sigh_. "Fine."_

And then I slept.

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**Hey, could you guys help me out again? This isn't as hard as the last help but it's important. **

**I need help on finding songs that you think might fit into the story. Something that the characters could sing, you know? Or I could use the titles of the song for chapter titles in the story. Just help me out here. Okay?**

**What I need is:**

**1. The title of the song**

**2. The Artist**

**3. And what character you think it would work best for. (Some of the characters don't sing, but if the song's good or funny then I might use it. Who knows?)**

**For example, what would be a good song for Lauren to sing? When I mean sing, I mean sing badly. She's one of the jerks in the story. (Apologies to anyone who likes Lauren. I just don't.)**

**You guys can keep submitting songs throughout the whole story. I'm not promising that I'll use all of them, but I'll listen to them and try to find some that could fit into the story. Got it?**

**Thanks.**


	6. Breakfast With The Cullens

**Hey, guys! This is the second longest chapter I've written! Yeah, it's not that great. Sorry, this took so long to put up. My computer wouldn't work so again, sorry. Here ya go!**

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**Chapter Six**

**Breakfast With the Cullens**

**EPOV**

I parked my car in the drive way and Emmett and Jasper went inside the house. I was just about to go in when Alice pulled up, honking her horn at me repeatedly.

"Hey, Edward!" Alice called as she and Rose got out of her car. "Could you help me get Bella inside?"

"Bella?" I wondered. "I thought you said she didn't want to stay with us?"

"Oh, she doesn't for some crazy reason." Alice opened the car door to reveal a sleeping Bella buckled into the seat."But it isn't like she can refuse now." Rosalie didn't say anything.

I had to say it was very underhanded of Alice to take advantage of Bella while she was unconscious. But Alice never was one to play fair. Still, I unbuckled Bella and gently lifted her out of the car, careful not to hit her head. I was a bit surprised at how light she was and couldn't help worry if she ate properly. She did say she had a job so why couldn't she buy food? The children were important to her, I understood, but she should also take care of herself. Was she really that selfless?

Alice, carrying Bella's bag, opened the door and we went inside to find Emmett and Jasper wrestling on the floor for the remote.

"Ow!" Jasper shouted. "You bit me!"

"The Sea hawks are playing the Giants! Give me the remote!" Emmett whined quite childishly. Where were mom and dad?

Marching straight to them, Alice snatched the remote from their hands and snapped, "Shut up! Bella's sleeping!" at them. They turned their gaze to Bella still asleep in my arms.

"She's staying?" Jasper asked to no one in particular.

"Cool." Emmett said.

"Well, you guys are quick to give her a second chance." Rose grumbled sparing a glance at Bella. As if she could sense Rosalie's chilling glare, Bella shifted slightly mumbling, "You hate me... I know that..."

We froze waiting to hear what Bella was going to say to Rosalie next. But she didn't say anything. She just turned her head and her eyes were still closed.

"I think... she's sleep talking." I told the others.

"Sleep talking?" Alice danced toward us and peered at her curiously. "Really?"

Bella started to stir even more, making it harder to hold her. Just then, mom appeared at the top of the stairs. "Bring her up here, Edward. The guest room is ready"

Quickly, I trudged up the winding staircase after mom into the guest room. The others had followed and watched as I laid Bella down on the bed. Mom took her shoes off and a wad of bills fell out of her right shoe.

"She doesn't want her money to get taken if her bag gets stolen." Alice explained as she put the money in Bella's bag. Mom nodded while Jasper, Rose Emmett, and I tried to act as though this was completely new to us. After mom slipped Bella's hair out of its pony tail she pushed us out the door. I was some what disappointed at this. I really wanted to hear what else Bella would say in her sleep.

"Let her sleep." Mom said. "Have you kids eaten dinner yet?"

Yes, mom still called us kids even though we were capable of driving and having our own careers. But we let her call us kids anyway. We loved her and we were her children. Even Rose and Jasper treated our parents as they had their own. While mom got Pierre to make us some dinner we all sat around the small island in the kitchen to talk. Our topic of choice? Bella.

Jasper asked, "How did you know she was going to stay the night?"

She shrugged, "I had a feeling."

"And you think she won't be another Tanya?" Rose asked flat out, ignoring Alice's scowl.

"I think," Esme said bringing us some forks to eat our dinner, "Bella is Bella. We may not know her very well but we shouldn't be rude to her before even knowing what kind of person she is." She gave Rosalie a disapproving look probably remembering her hostility from before.

"What about dad?" I asked.

"He agrees. But it doesn't mean we should just take in any homeless stranger Alice finds. We must be careful."

She said this mostly to Alice who said, "She's not a stranger to me."

"Even so, you all live here and you all deserve some input on whether or not Bella stays. So we're taking a vote."

"A vote?" Emmett said slurping his spaghetti.

"Yes. You all spent some time with her, correct?"

We nodded.

"Did any of you find anything suspicious about her?"

We shook our heads. Even Rosalie grudgingly did so.

"Then let that help you make your decision."

Sitting there in silence we all thought of Bella. I already knew what Emmett and Alice's answers would be. Rosalie and Jasper weren't so easy to decipher. Jasper didn't dislike her, I don't think. Rosalie however, would probably vote no. Me? I don't know. She seemed alright to me. Of course, so had Tanya.

Could we trust Bella?

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**BPOV**

Do you ever have one of those mornings when you wake up in the most perfect way? Yeah, that doesn't happen to me. I get to wake up to an earthquake caused by someone jumping on the bed.

"Bella, get up! Get up! Get up! Get up!" A voice ordered. One guess as to who it belonged to.

"No." I groaned burying my face into the white softness that was the pillow. Then I realized something.

Pillow? Bed? Pixie jumping up and down on said bed?

Immediately, I sprang out of the bed, tripping on the bed covers. Rubbing my sore face, I took in my surroundings and found that I wasn't in the park like I usually was. I was in a room with cream colored walls and furniture that matched perfectly in a very expensive way. No this was definitely not the park.

"Are you okay?" the black haired pixie asked, peering down at me from the edge of the bed.

"Hi Alice." I said, standing up still a bit confused. "Where am I?"

"You're at my house. Well, technically it's my parents house. We all just live here." Alice rambled.

I scowled at her. "I told you to drop me off at the park."

"But what kind of friend would I be if I let you sleep in the park?"

"I never said we were friends."

Alice smiled. "That's not what you said yesterday. Besides, acquaintance sounds too bleh for me."

I sighed. I'd been hoping she hadn't caught that. "Fine, but a friend better give me a ride to work."

"Take a day off."

"I already took a day off. Yesterday. Remember? And that was your fault. Where's my bag?" I asked, searching under the bed.

"Here." Alice swung my bag in front of my face. I thanked her and reached into my bag, pulling out my tooth brush and tooth paste. Alice looked at me like I had grown an extra foot out of the side of my head.

"Uh, you carry tooth paste and a tooth brush with you?" she asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, just because I'm homeless doesn't mean I have to be unhygienic, Alice. Where's the bathroom?"

She pointed to one of the three doors in the room. Upon opening it I was nearly blinded by the size of the room. It contained a big tub, a sink, a shower and a toilet. It was fully stocked with towels and bar soaps. I just couldn't get over how clean it was. I was beginning to think that the Cullen's home was secretly a hotel.

"Bella, there's something I don't understand." Alice said breaking me out of my bathroom induced trance. I set my bag on the side of the sink. It clashed terribly with the porcelaine.

"What?" I asked, putting a dot of tooth past on my tooth brush and starting to brush.

"You don't act like a homeless person but you're homeless."

Still brushing, I said, "Ows uh ohmess irson a 'osed oo' ack?"

"Huh?"

I spit into the sink and rinsed. "How is a homeless person supposed to act?" I repeated.

"Oh. I don't know. Miserable? Angry at the world for making you live on the streets?"

I had to laugh at that. "No, I'm not miserable or angry at the world. Besides, being on the streets isn't that hard this time of year. It's winter that's really the problem." The freezing cold was always a pain.

"So you're happy with being homeless?"

"I've learned to bear it so it doesn't bother me anymore." I said storing my tooth brush and paste. "Do you mind if I take a shower?"

"Sure, go ahead. You don't have to ask. You live here now!" Alice cheerfully said exiting the bathroom.

"Thank you, that's awfully nice of y-" I stopped. "What did you say?"

"You can use the bathroom?"

I shook my head. "No, the last part. About me. Living here."

"You live here now! Isn't that great!" she said halfway out the door. Then she took the rest of her and closed the door on me.

"Alice!" I shouted her name as I ran out of the room and stumbled down the stairs after her. "What do you mean I live here now?"

"You live here now." she enunciated every word carefully as though I couldn't understand. The way I was acting I probably couldn't.

"I do n-aah!" I said entering the the kitchen and falling back on the slippery floor. It really didn't help that I had was a klutz wearing socks. This was embarrassing enough without having the entire Cullen family and Pierre there to witness it. They all started laughing, not unkindly, more out of surprise if anything. Emmett was by far the loudest of them.

"Are you alright, Bella?" Edward said coming over to help me up making me blush even more than I already was. I wobbled a bit as he helped me into one of the unoccupied seats around the island where the rest of the Cullens were happily eating breakfast before my fall. Pierre was busily cooking over the stove and the waffle iron.

"Ow," I rubbed the back of my head furiously. I could tell there was going to be a bump there. Esme grabbed a towel and filled it with ice cubes (Did I mention that their fridge had an ice dispenser?) and handed it to me.

I thanked her and applied the ice to my head. "What was I saying?"

"You were saying you wanted blueberry waffles!" Alice piped and stacked a couple of waffles on the plate in front of me. I looked at the plate still thinking. Then it clicked.

"No, I was saying I don't live here." Everyone looked at me and I felt the pink heat spread across my face, my natural reaction whenever I got any attention. It was also very embarrassing and made me blush even more. A strange cycle it was.

Carlisle was the first to speak. "Do you not want to live here?"

"Not really. I mean, it's awfully kind of you but as I've told Alice many times I don't want to be a bother."

"And we could quite possibly kill her like in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Alice interjected biting some toast.

"Yeah, only in Washington." I said, causing everyone to chuckle even Rosalie. "Either way I won't be staying here."

This earned several protests around the kitchen.

"Come on, Bella!" Alice groaned for the millionth time. "Just stay with us! We already voted."

"Yeah!" Emmett said. It's a bit odd how quickly one can change their opinion of a person, isn't it? Though it was rather touching. Carlisle and Esme looked worried for me. Pierre even looked away from the pan of frying bacon to say "What?" incredulously. It was rather touching. For me anyway.

Edward, Jasper and Rosalie were more reserved and it wasn't as easy to see through. Though I could tell Rosalie wanted to boot me out of here straight away.

Then something got past the touchy feely emotions and registered in my brain.

"Vote?" I said, putting down the ice pack from my head. "What vote?"

"We all voted and decide to let you stay." Jasper spoke for the first time I entered.

I blinked at them. "Okay. What exactly were the voting results on letting me stay?"

"Five for, two against."

My eyes slid over to Rosalie. She was definitely one of the againsts. The other was a mystery, at least to me. "Right, then. That settles it. Two out of seven people don't want me here. I'm going." I narrowed my eyes at Alice at the last part. She was the one who needed to be convinced on letting me leave the most. Why she still wanted me around was beyond me.

"No way!"Alice slapped her hands on the table, making me and the others flinch. "You are staying! And that's it!"

"Alice," Jasper held his hands up in defense. "Calm down."

"Heck no!" she snapped then turned on me. I nearly fell back in my chair by how close up she was in my face. "Darn it, Bella! Why won't you just stay with us! It's got to be better than sleeping on a park bench every night!"

"It is but-"

She interrupted me. "But what? We invited you to live with us. Other people would be ecstatic! Give me one good reason why you won't stay and I'll drive you back to the park right now!

Staring down Alice wasn't an easy thing to do. Yes, she may have been a foot shorter than me but she was quite menacing. Still I managed to give an answer.

"I don't want to stay."

"That's it? You don't want to stay?"

"Pretty much. Anyways I've still got to get ready for work." I smiled at the rest of them. "So how much do I owe you all?"

"Owe?" Esme said looking as confused as the rest of them. I nodded.

"You don't owe us anything," Carlisle put his fork down as he spoke.

"Yeah, I do. You guys let me stay here, I ate some of your ice cream yesterday, and let Alice drive me around everywhere. How much is that exactly?" I wondered aloud. It was probably more than anything I could guess.

Carlisle shook his head. "No, Bella that was nothing to us."

"We spend money on meaningless stuff all the time." Emmett scoffed stuffing his face with waffle and bacon.

"Good to know I'm so meaningless. Thank you Emmett for that complement." I couldn't help remark. His mouth fell open, some food bits falling out onto the counter top. I sighed, "Sorry." I honestly hadn't meant it. Whenever a comment like that comes up, I just sort of get... touchy. Emmett shrugged it off easily though. Rosalie, however, narrowed her eyes even more at me. Standing up I declined their offer of food and asked Alice to give me a ride to work. She agreed reluctantly and I left the Cullens to eat their breakfast.

Once I was back in the bathroom I proceeded to take my shower. Yes, even I, a homeless person, bathed. It was usually not in such a fancy bathroom though. I always went to public restrooms to clean myself up. Not that bad a thing really, but it was nice to feel the pressure of the hot water on my skin. It's been a while since I've taken a good shower. Actually, it's been a while since I've ever had that good a sleep. Sure, I didn't have that great of an awakening but it was still good.

But I really didn't want to intrude in the Cullens' lives. Besides they were nice people and didn't truly trust me. Not completely. Well, maybe Alice did but that doesn't necessarily mean that's a good thing. I finished my shower, got dressed and headed downstairs where Alice and Rosalie were already waiting.

Alice looked me up and down. "It'll do." I didn't really know what that meant but she was my ride so I wasn't going to ask. I just followed her and Rosalie to the Porsche. I couldn't help being wary as we approached the car. Frankly, I was still afraid of Alice's driving. I was relieved when Rosalie got into the driver's seat. No one could be as bad a driver as Alice. So I got in quite happily.

Then we were off.

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**Oh and don't forget to give me song suggestions. That will be important later.**

**Muchas Gracias!**


	7. Cups O' Joe and Stranger Danger

**Okay, I am an amature writer so basically... I suck. I suck even more when I improvise. So please just pretend it's late when Bella gets off of work.**

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**Chapter Seven**

**Cups O' Joe and Stranger Danger**

**RPOV**

"Hey, Rose what do you think of these?" Alice asked me as she held up a pair of shoes. They were very fashionable, but of course they were. Alice's' taste was always just that. Fashionable. How else would she would have become a famous fashion designer? We were currently in a shop buying several pairs of shoes. Once we'd dropped Isabella off at her work she'd insisted that we go and do whatever we wanted. I'd complied and after some persuasion Alice did too. Why she wanted to hang around that little cafe was beyond me. We could have just driven to a Starbucks and she wasn't allowed to have caffeine anyway. Alice was too energetic already. Right now, though, she was very quiet. Well, quiet for Alice.

"Those would go great with that dress you bought last week." I commented.

"Yeah, I think I'll get them." Alice added them to her pile of shoe boxes stacked on the floor. I stood up from the couch and strutted around the room, trying out the gold, strappy, high heels. She approved and I gave them to one of the clerks to bag for me.I think his name was Joe or something. I don't remember. But he was giving me that sick slobbery look I often get from guys and it was getting really annoying.

"Hey, Rose?" Alice interrupted my thoughts.

"Hm?" I said, shooting Joe-guy a What? look. He scurried away, carrying some shoe boxes to block his red face. I turned back to Alice.

"Did you vote against Bella?"

_Bella._ She's already calling her _Bella. _Man, that girl worked fast. Next _Bella_ will have Alice buying her an expensive wardrobe then a sports car. To answer Alice's' question I gave her a little, "Yep."

I wasn't going to deny it. I _did_ write no on my slip of paper. Why I even voted I didn't know. Alice would have begged and cried to keep her so-called 'friend' even if everyone but her voted against as well. But I was surprised when Esme counted each folded piece of paper as she pulled them out of the copper kettle we had used. Someone else had voted with me. But it didn't really matter. Two against five was not a win. You didn't have to be a genius to figure that out.

"I thought you said you were going to give Bella a chance." Alice whined.

"I'm trying. I didn't claw her eyes out did I?" I said, defending myself.

"She really isn't like Tanya."

"You met her yesterday, Alice! How can you know a person in that little time?"

"You didn't even meet her and you just outright accused her for nothing! Jeez, Rose, you've got to get over what Tanya did. Are you not going to trust anyone for the rest of your life?"

I didn't do anything except zip up a pair of black boots.

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**BPOV**

What. The. Heck. That was all I could think as I took these two customers orders. They were both guys and they were hitting on me over and over again. Why, I didn't know. I'd never been attractive to anyone so maybe it was some form of bullying. Their latest pick up line was "Can you give me your phone number? I lost mine."

I restrained myself from rolling my eyes. Barely. They were the fifth and sixth guys to hit on me since I started working. It got annoying I tell ya. Even more so when Mike discretely threatened to fire me. Was it my fault I met a celebrity pixie yesterday who decided to drive me to work? _She_ pushed _me_ off my bench.

"Are you tired?" the blond guy asked me as I set down their order. "Cause you've been running through my mind all day."

"I didn't know a day counted as ten minutes." I couldn't help but retort before leaving them to go to another table. I wanted tips but not so badly that I'd go out with those two cheese heads. What was with all those lame pick up lines? I sighed. Just a little while before I could finally go. I rubbed the back of my head absentmindedly. It was still a bit sore from this mornings fall in the Cullens kitchen.

I saw three more guys come in and sit at one of the booths and went over to them smile, pen, and notepad ready. One of them was really huge and there was also a blond and red...

My jaw dropped slightly.

"How may I help you?" I asked them.

"Hmm. You got coffee?" the big burly one asked cheekily before the blond slapped the back of his head and hissed "_Emmett!"_

Yep, it was them. Not even the glasses, hats and wigs they wore could disguise that fact. I had no idea why they were here though. Last I'd seen these three was at breakfast.

"Emmett? Edward? Jasper? What are you- ?" I asked aloud before I was immediately shushed by them.

"We don't want people to notice us. Seeing as we're a famous band." Jasper explained.

"Oh." I could understand that. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked again.

"We got bored and Edward was moping again so we decided to go out. Alice and Rose said they'd be here soon."

"Great." I tried to sound happy about that but it only came out like a groan.

"You don't like hanging out with us?" Emmett asked.

"It's not that. I just don't want to get fired if there's another stampede of fans like yesterday."

"Well, we do have disguises you know." Emmett referred to the wig he was wearing. I looked at them all again. They all looked alright.

"Fine, but what about Alice and Rosalie?"

"They said they'd get something as they went shopping." Edward answered, "They should be here soon."

Just as soon as he finished that sentence there was a loud skidding sound as a canary yellow Porsche swerved into a parking spot. Everyone in the cafe turned to look out the giant glass window and onto the street as a bubblegum haired pixie and a tall red head with a models' body got out of the shopping bag filled car. It was really quiet. So quiet we could hear every word they said.

"Come on, Rose, hurry up! The others are waiting!" Bubblegum-head rushed.

"I'm not the one who wanted to stop at that shop to buy a stuffed panda!" The red head snapped.

"Well, we had to get the wigs, too! Anyway come on! I want some coffee!"

"Alice, you don't need coffee. You're the last person in the world who needs coffee." The bell over the door rang as they entered.

"Hi!" the pixie waved to everyone in the cafe as she and Rosalie slid into the booth with the guys. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

"I'm so fired." I groaned quietly, slapping myself with my notepad. Alice's' eyes got big.

"You got fired!" she screeched in the already quiet cafe. My cheeks burned red at all the attention the table was getting.

"No!" I hissed. "But I will be if you don't be quiet right now!"

Alice made a motion out of zipping up her mouth and throwing away the key. Still people goggled us.

"MIND YOUR OWN BEESWAX!" Rosalie shouted at all of them, scaring them into looking away. Silently I thanked her for that. Trying to ignore the ringing in my ears I asked them all what they would like.

"I'd like a vanilla latte." Alice piped. "Jasper?"

"Black coffee." he stated and I looked at the others who were still looking at the menus I'd given them.

"Ooh." Emmett said looking up from his menu. "The cappuccino cheesecake sounds good. Also with the chocolate hazelnut java."

"A cappuccino." Rosalie didn't even need to look at her menu.

"Edward?" I was still waiting for his order. He sighed and put down his menu.

"What do you recommend?" he asked.

"I'm not the best judge of coffee around here." I admitted sheepishly.

"Why?" Then Alice gasped. "Don't tell me you don't drink coffee!"

"Not anymore. I tried a caramel espresso float and coffee cake once and it got me so hyped up that when I finally crashed I had to go to the hospital. They thought I was a junkie or something." I chuckled at the memory. " So I've sworn off caffeine ever since."

Emmett guffawed at this catching peoples' attention again. Rosalie slapped him over the head and he was quiet.

"What did you have again?" Edward asked me.

"A caramel espresso float and a coffee cake?"

"Yeah, I'll have that." He gave me a crooked smile before I went to get their orders. For some reason I blushed at that. As I made coffee I looked around the cafe and found that there were several guys and girls checking out the Cullens. I could understand why. Even through those disguises you could tell they were quite beautiful. They dazzled everyone around them without knowing it. A few brave souls even tried to talk to them. Like one of the waitresses, Lauren, for instance.

Lauren. What can I say about her? She's not a very nice person. She's always making fun of me and she gossips way too much. Also, she proves that 'dumb blond' stereotype true. Yes, I don't like her and from the looks on their faces' neither did the Cullens.

"Here you go." I said plopping their orders in front of them and ignoring Lauren. "One vanilla latte for Alice, a black coffee for Jasper, the cappuccino cheesecake and chocolate hazelnut java for Emmett, a cappuccino for Rosalie, and a caramel espresso flat and coffee cake for Edward."

I heard Lauren gasp. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!"

"What did you know Lauren?" I rolled my eyes.

She pointed at the Cullens stars in her eyes. "You three are in New Moon! And You're Rosalie Hale the supermodel, and you're Alice Cullen the fashion designer!"

She said all this vary fast. So fast that thankfully no one around else around us could understand her. However, we did and I immediately clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Lauren, be quiet!" I told her. "They don't want people to know."

"Why not? I mean I would. Who wouldn't like to be a celebrity?" she squealed and turned back to the Cullens'. "Hi I'm Lauren. You guys are all rich right?"

I rolled my eyes. I tended to do that a lot around stupidity. The Cullens' however managed to be polite. In a very icy way.

"Yes, we are." Edward answered truthfully with an extremely fake smile.

Lauren ogled him especially. She was practically drooling over him. "Eddie, would you like me to sing?"

"Erm..." he started, and I signaled 'No!' frantically behind Laurens' back.

He didn't get it.

"Okay?" Edward finished. Lauren gave another squeal and went off to the stage. I gave out an exasperated sigh.

"You really shouldn't have done that." I frowned at Edward.

"Why?" Emmett asked shoving cake into his mouth.

"Oh, you'll see."

"Isadork, get over here!" Laurens' nasally voice shouted at me from the stage. People turned as I walked past and set up the karaoke. I handed Lauren a mic and started the music. Lauren said she needed a back up singer and I was it. I didn't know why until I asked her one day.

"Because you're so incredibly ugly that you make everything else look pretty and so I'll be gorgeous."

Yeah, that was her answer. I told you she was mean.

"Hey, Isadork! Introduce me!"

I sighed into the microphone, "Hey, everybody please welcome to the stage the beautiful, talented, smart, pretty, and _blond_, Lauren."

Yes, she makes me say that every time she sings. _Jeez_.

People clapped politely and Lauren hissed, "Stand behind me!" at me. I did so if only to get this torture over. The music for 'Circus' started.

There was booing and some people were starting to leave. I can't say I'm surprised. Lauren was a lousy singer. Anybody could tell that. So I stealthily walked over to the karaoke machine and turned down Laurens' mic so only I could be heard.

I continued to sing while Lauren did some... er... awkward dance moves. People however didn't seem to care. They just sat back down and listened to what was supposedly Laurens' voice.

Lauren shined with all of the applause she got. I turned off the karaoke machine and I went back to the Cullens booth where Lauren was already bragging about how great she sang.

"_You_ sang." Jasper raised a brow. I put a finger to my lips to tell him to be quiet about it. He understood and so did the others. Obviously they knew Lauren hadn't been the one singing.

"Yeah, I sang! How awesome was I Eddie?" she asked, making Edward frown.

"Don't call me, Eddie, please."

"Hey, Bella are you off work yet?" Alice whined and I looked at the clock and nodded. "Good let's get out of here."

And so we did. They paid their bill, I returned my apron, got my bag and we were gone. They did tell Lauren she couldn't come. She did try very hard though. Jasper, Mike and Emmett had to pry her off of Edwards leg.

"She sure can put up a fight." Jasper remarked as the cafe door shut behind him.

"Yeah, she really liked you, Edward." Emmett poked him in the side gleefully.

"Great." he said in a not so great way.

"Come on guys let's go home." Alice said.

"Okay, good night." I said and started walking away.

"Where are you going?" Emmett and Alice asked at the same time.

"The park. Where else would I go?"

"Home! With us!" Alice cried.

"No thanks."

"Bella, you're coming with us."

"Nu uh."

"At least let us give you a ride!"

I thought about that for a minute.

"Okay."

"Okay? You let us give you a ride but you won't let us give you a home?"

"A ride is a lot less than a home, Alice." I said as we got into the Volvo with Edward and Jasper. "Why aren't we taking your car?"

"Oh, Rose and I did a lot of shopping so there's only enough room for two and I thought Emmett and Rosalie would have more fun together." She tossed her wig into the back.

"But you haven't let Emmett in your car since he filled the seats with vanilla pudding?" Jasper said.

"Forgive and forget I always say." Alice shrugged. "And it was _chocolate _pudding."

On the way to the park they asked me why I sang for Lauren. I got paid extra to sing if there were very bad singers. They tend to drive away business so to keep the customers I sing. I was pretty good at it. Or so I'm told.

"So you two and Emmett are the band New Moon? Alice is a big time fashion designer and Rosalie is a supermodel?" I recapped aloud.

"Yes." they all said.

"Huh."

"What?" Alice asked.

"Nothing. You guys just seem so normal."

"That's because we _are_ normal." Jasper said.

"Yeah, I know that but everyone else treats you like... like..."

"Idols?"

"Royalty?"

"Gods?"

"Yes, yes, and yes." I couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"Well, we are famous, Bella." Edward glance at me before returning his eyes to the road.

"Some people wouldn't count famous as normal." I said softly as we pulled up next to the park.

"Bella!" Alice called as got out of the car after me. "It's really dark! You can't stay out her all night!"

"Relax Alice. They have streetlamps in the park, too." I bent over and took off my shoe and started pulling out some bills. "How much do I owe you guys?"

Alice blinked then.

"Alice?"

"ARE YOU CRAZY!" she blew up at me, even going as far as to throw her hands in the air. "THIS ISN'T ABOUT MONEY! IT'S ABOUT YOUR SAFETY! GOSH BELLA! MY ENTIRE FAMILY IS FREAKING LOADED SO WE FREAKING DON'T NEED YOUR FREAKING MONEY!"

Wow. Just... wow.

"Alice!" Jasper and Edward got out of the car at the sound of Alices' tantrum.

"Calm down, Alice." Jasper soothed putting his hands on her small shoulders. "Just calm down." Alice merely shrugged his hands away.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" she snapped then pointed at me. "Get her to come home with us!"

I heard Edward sigh then turn to me, "Bella-"

"No, thanks." I'd already put my shoe back on and started walking towards the parks entrance. That is until I was stopped by Alice seizing my hand and pulling me back to the Volvo.

"Alice!" she was really strong for a pixie.

"You are coming with us!" she growled.

"No! I am not some lost stray you can just take home, Alice!" I wrenched my hand away and stared her down. "Now, I am going to go to my bench and sleep, and you will not follow me. You will go home without me. Got it?"

She didn't say anything. Jasper and Edward hovered around us apprehensively.

"Got it, Alice?" I said again.

She sighed. "Got it. But if you aren't at that bench safe and sound when I go to work, I will hunt you down and drag you all the way to my house."

I laughed. "Okay." I gave them one last smile and good-bye and I went on into the park. As far as I could tell, Alice was true to her word. I could hear the far off purr of the Volvo's engine as they drove on home.

Home. That word seemed empty to me somehow. Was I wrong to reject the Cullens' invitation? Should I have said yes and stayed with them? They were very good people and it would be nice to have a roof over my head again. Even the roof of one of their cars would've been better than the bench.

Think of the devil, there it was. My pine wood, splinter giving, creaky, old and weathered bench. Lonely as ever, it barely stood beside the pathway of the park. Sighing, I laid down and stared up at the busted streetlamp above. In a way it was a good thing. I could see the stars easier. Though the bench was a bit uncomfortable. Using my bag as a pillow, I closed my eyes and started to sing softly to myself.

_Grew up in a small town_

_And when the rain would fall down_

_I'd just stare out my window_

_Dreaming of what could be_

_And if I'd end up happy_

_I would pray_

_Trying hard to reach out_

_But when I tried to speak out_

_Felt like no one could hear me_

_Wanted to belong here_

_But something felt so wrong here_

_So I prayed_

_I could break away_

"What a pretty voice the girly's got." a man's voice said from within the darkness. I quickly got off the bench and faced the two men moving sluggishly towards me. I noticed the empty beer bottles in their hands and grabbed my bag, my gut knotting itself tightly.

"Hey, Nate, let's have some fun." one of them discarded their bottle and leered at me, making my stomach twist even more.

"Yeah, fun." Nate slurred, both of them approaching me at the same time. I wanted to run. I really did, But I knew it would have been no use with my klutziness and even when drunk these men could still probably catch me.

"No thanks," I said and decided that walking away would be better than trying to run. However, that plan failed when they started to circle me, trapping me in between them. Heart beating fast, I searched my bag for something I could use to hit them with but the guy named Nate snatched my bag and threw it away as his friend came came up behind me and grabbed me around the waist. Both of them laughed as I started to struggle.

"Let go!" I told him kicking Nate guy in the groin as I clawed at at the other guys' face. Both of them cried out in pain and for a moment I was free until the guy with the angry red scratch marks yanked me back by my hair. My head hit the ground hard. Precisely on the sore spot at the back.

Slowly, I lifted myself up, tears stinging my eyes. My attackers had been tending to their wounds but they turned their attention back to me. They were angry and muttered rude things under their breath.

That's when I felt it. Not just the fear and danger but the hot, wet and sticky liquid. Putting a hand to the back of my head, I looked at the ruby substance on my fingertips.

Blood.

My stomach heaved at the rusty salty smell of it. I knew what would follow. A life of living with Charlie and Renee had me well informed of the reaction my body would give. The clammy sweat, shallow breathing, weakness.

_No, not now, _I thought. _Please, not now. _I fell to my hands and knees, trying to hold my breath as I desperately wiped my hand on the ground, trying to get the blood off. But it was no use.

It was always no use.

The dizziness was getting worse without air and I knew I would lose consciousness soon. Though I knew I would be defenseless I couldn't help but think something.

_Where were they? Why aren't they attacking me? Did they run at the sight of a girl they thought was dying?_

Finally, I inhaled, my lungs no longer able to hold. With the rush of salty bloody air came a sound. A sound of struggling and grunts. I couldn't see anything through the hazy darkness except shadows of figures, fighting.

_But why..._

The thought remained unfinished as the darkness became absolute and the sounds faded away. I vaguely felt someone lifting me and calling a name. But that was all there was to feel and hear before I once again fell into unconsciesness.

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**Hope you liked that! :) And come on people I still need suggestions on what lyrics to use. I've only gotten like one reply for that.**


	8. Say Hello to the Doctor

**I was lazy and made this chapter really short. To make it up to you guys I'll be posting the next chapter tomorrow! Probably! I don't know! Enjoy and review!**

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**Chapter Eight**

**Say Hello to the Doctor**

_Beep, beep, beep._

That was the first thing I heard as I woke up. The second thing was a bit different.

"Bella!" Alice jumped at me, giving me a big hug.

Why is it that I always wake up to find Alice standing over me? I mean I like her and all but can't a girl get a break? Being with Alice's hyperness tends to drain your energy really fast.

"Hey, Alice." I smiled at her for some reason. I felt oddly happy to see her here. Though where here was I had no idea. The room looked sterile and white with a television and a sink. Looking to the right of the bed I was laying in I saw a bed pan. Ew. "Where am I?"

"What does it look like? The hospital, duh. I mean you were bleeding, Bella! Jeeze! I thought you were dead!" Alice huffed then pinched my arm.

"Ow! What was that for!"

"For making me worry so much you dodo brain! If you'd just come home with us this wouldn't have happened!" she pointed at the bandage on my head. I touched it.

"How did that happen?" I said and looked at Alice. She'd gone silent.

"OH MY GOD, YOU DON'T REMEMBER! HELP! DOCTER! SOME THING'S WRONG W-"

I clamped a hand over her mouth, my cheeks burning red as I saw several nurses and patients peer at us like we were crazy. "Alice! Why do you always have to be so loud!"

Alice removed my hand "But don't you remember anything about what happened at the park?"

I thought for a second. "You guys dropped me off and I went to my bench to sleep."

"Aaaannnd..."

"There were two guys... and they were drunk. They attacked me didn't they?"

"Heck yeah, they attacked you! Why didn't you run away or something?"

I laughed, "I'm not a good runner." Then something hit me. "You didn't fight them off on your own did you?" Not to say Alice wasn't strong, but I didn't think even she could beat those odds. Though it would have been quite comical if she did.

She snorted. "No, Jasper and Edward did. But I did kick one of them in the shin." She grinned at that and I couldn't help but smile too.

"Someone's finally awake." Jasper yawned as he and Edward entered. Both of them looked quite disheveled.

"You guys look awful." I blurted.

"Those other two look worse." Edward smiled crookedly at me as he sat on the couch in the corner.

"What happened to them?"

"We called the cops on them so they're probably in a jail cell right now."

I nodded, then folded my arms. "You guys followed me? Even when I told you to go home?"

"It was Alice's idea."

"Traitor." she glared at Edward before turning back to me and confessing. "Yeah, I made them turn back around."

"She threatened to jump out of the car if we didn't." Jasper added and I laughed.

"Anyway, my psychic abilities were right! I told you something bad would happen and it did! So now you have to stay with us and no buts about it!"

They waited for me to say something but only my stomach answered with a loud growling sound. I blushed. "Um, is there anything to eat?"

They laughed and Alice went to get me some food while Jasper went to get the doctor, leaving me alone with Edward. Needless to say, it was quiet, but it was a good kind of quiet. He merely closed his eyes and rested on the couch. Examining him, I saw that his shirt had some some dried blood on it. Not enough to make me sick but I couldn't help the heat rising in my cheeks. He and Jasper had fought for me. _Me_.

"Why are you smiling so much?"

I blinked. I hadn't even noticed Edward had opened his eyes. Again I blurted out my thoughts like a complete idiot.

"You and Jasper saved me. I've only met one other guy in my whole life who would have done that."

"Your father?"

I slumped a little. "No, not him. This wouldn't have mattered to him at all."

Edwards eyebrows creased slightly. "Your own father wouldn't have cared if you'd gotten hurt?"

"No, he wouldn't. He's not that type of man." _Not anymore anyway_.

It was silent again as Edward thought and I blushed again for revealing a snippet of my past. I mean, he and I didn't know each other that well and here I was blabbing away. But I couldn't lie to him when I looked into his green eyes. They were just so hypnotising.

"So who's the other one guy?" he finally asked. I was a little surprised he actually wanted to know.

"A childhood friend. We used to make mud pies together." I smiled at the memory. "I haven't seen him in three years now but I hope he's doing okay."

"He's probably doing better than you at the moment."

"Yeah, probably. How about you? Are you okay? You've got blood on you."

"Oh that was from the other guy." He looked down at his shirt. "And you." he added.

"Sorry, for causing you so much trouble." I mumbled.

"You really should have just come home with us."

"And what? Mooch off of you guys then ditch?"

"It'd be better than having us worry about you every night. If Alice hadn't been a 'psychic' you could have been seriously hurt right now."

"I don't get Alice." I admitted and he looked confusedly at me. "Why does she want me to be her friend?"

Edward laughed. "Why else? She likes you, Bella."

"But no one else does. And I'm beginning to think Alice has a screw loose."

"My sister isn't crazy. She's rich. That makes her eccentric and she's not the only one that likes you. So just stay with us. I don't want Alice crying over you again."

"She cried?" That's surprising. Alice didn't seem the type to cry.

"You were unconscious for two hours, Bella." He spoke seriously this time. "There was a chance you could have gone into a coma if you hadn't woken up. Of course she cried."

Truthfully, I don't think anyone's ever cried for me. Ever. It made me happy yet guilty to know that someone was hurting because they actually cared about me.

"Fine." I said.

"Fine what?" Alice said holding several little bags of chips and a couple of soda cans.

"Fine, I'll stay with you."

"What? Really? That's great!" She gave Edward a look. "What did you do?"

"Nothing." he answered getting off the couch and taking a bag of chips from her. Secretly, I wondered if Alice had ever cried over me at all or if Edward had just said it to make me give in. But before I could ponder it even further, Jasper and the doctor arrived. Her name was Dr. Martinez and she seemed to be well acquainted with the Cullens by the way she talked and joked with them. She wasn't that old and she seemed nice enough though I did get a little nervous when she asked me about my eating habits.

"Er, why do you need to know that?" I asked Dr. Martinez.

"Because I'm a doctor and I need to know, kiddo. Also you seem to be very underweight for someone your age." she raised an eyebrow. "You're not anorexic are you?"

I was indignant. "No!"

"A purger?"

"Heck no!"

"Well, your nutrition still sucks hard and your body is eating itself away because of it. That's why we've got that in you." she pointed to one of the tubes stuck in my arm that was attached to an I.V. I'd been wondering what that'd been for. "Your skull wasn't that badly hurt but you should still be careful. There had been enough force to make you pass out."

I felt another blush coming on. "Actually, it wasn't when I hit my head that I passed out. It was because of the blood."

"You don't like blood?" Alice wondered aloud.

"It's mostly the smell that gets to me. It smells funny."

"You tried to take on two grown men by yourself and you can't take the smell of blood?" Edward said ready to laugh.

"You tried to be Superman and fly off the roof when you were eight." Dr. Martinez defended me, making Edward scowl and the rest of us burst into laughter.

"You said you'd never bring that up again!"

"Did I?" Dr. Martinez grinned evilly before turning back to me. "Okay, kiddo, you're good to go. Just don't go out late by yourself anymore. Take it easy and eat better." she eyed the bags of junk and the empty soda cans.

"The food court was closed and this was all they had in the vending machines." Alice said. "It's the hospitals fault for not having any V8."

Dr. Martinez pulled out the tubes and I was free to walk about freely. Thank god they hadn't felt the need to change me into one of those smocks. I don't think I could have taken that embarrassment.

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**The ending of this chapter seemed more like a flop. Sorry, but I'm running out of steam.**

**I don't think I've said this enough times but please, PLEASE help me find good songs! Okay? It'll make the story better.**


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